• Chinese officials are considering a ban on eating dogs and cats. Although dog meat has been consumed in the country for thousands of years, the past decade has seen a growing backlash from middle class pet-owners. •

The proposed law would not just ban the farming of dogs and cats, but also hand out jail time to those caught slaughtering the animals. But not everyone supports the ban: "This is absurd. Why only dogs and cats? How about pigs, cows and sheep," said one critic. • A spokesman for the Indian prime minister has apologized for an ad put out by India's woman and child development ministry to mark National Girl-Child Day. The ad, which featured images of several prominent Indian women, included a picture of a former Pakistani air force chief. The Indian government has apologized for showing a "foreign national" in the well-intentioned PSA. • Frances Buss, director of the first talk show, trailblazer for women in television, and all-around cool lady, died on January 19th at the age of 92. She retired from directing in 1954, but her years of work behind the camera won her a place in television history. • The man charged with the murder of Yale graduate student Annie Le pleaded not guilty today during a hearing in Connecticut. Raymond Clark was working as a lab tech at the building where Le's body was found stuffed into a wall. • A girls' volleyball coach at a private school in New York has been arrested and charged with sex abuse after the mother of a 14-year-old student noticed a hickey on her daughter's neck. She confessed she has been having a "love affair" with her 37-year-old coach. • Scott Moore has come forward as the world's second pregnant man (the first being Thomas Beatie). Moore and his husband are expecting a baby boy. When the happy couple heard they were expecting (after trying to get pregnant for over a year) they "did what all gay men do when they get excited... went shopping." • A Malaysian court has ruled to overturn the ban on a book about the challenges faced by Muslim women. The book was initially prohibited on the grounds that it "could jeopardize public order and obscenity" and "confuse" Muslim women. The ruling is being hailed as a victory for free speech and gender equality. • A female MBA responds to the SuperFreakonomics authors' suggestion that women's main benefit from business school is finding rich husbands so they can drop out of the workforce: "Many of us - here's the surprise - got our MBAs precisely because we wanted to have children and work, and we knew we wouldn't be able to recover from the economic hit nearly as well unless we had an MBA to accelerate us back up the speed ramp when we re-entered the workforce post-child-raising!" • Although Canada has nationalized health care, poor women in Ontario are still less likely to get epidurals during childbirth than their richer counterparts. Probably has something to do with death panels. • An Australian family law expert says that January is the prime time for leaving your significant other. For whatever reason - holiday stress, New Year's resolutions, general boredom - more couples split up in January than any other month - or so she claims. • Ayla Brown, daughter of Massachusetts senator Scott Brown, told The Early Show that she didn't mind her father's spontaneous announcement regarding her dating status. Brown said the entire thing was kind of funny, and has resulted in numerous emails and phone-calls from prospective suitors. She also says she has no plans to go into politics. "I leave politics up to my dad. He is amazing at that." •